Uploaded October 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this ~*sPoOkI hAlLoWeEn SpEcIaL~* of Writing on Games (suggested by one of my generous patrons, Jonathan, after pledging a certain amount), I take a look at a game that you will struggle to ever play unless you already have it, or a friend does.
P.T. was used to announce Silent Hills - the next instalment in the revered horror franchise directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. Unfortunately, Konami wasn't into it, and so cancelled Silent Hills and un-released P.T. from the PlayStation Store. This left a lot of people feeling like P.T. was the start of a sentence that was never finished - that something remained unsaid.
I would argue that this was maybe in the game's favour, however - P.T. is a game about not knowing, about subverting the reliability of details and narratives other games (even other horror games) have taught us are sacrosanct. There's a reason this short experience is so captivating. I only played it once, but it has stuck with me ever since. In this video, I analyse why that's the case.
In this episode of Writing on Games, I discuss how P.T. perhaps invokes the Imagist tradition of clarity of expression through economy of language, and how it uses this to truly get under your skin - both in the game and, in typical Kojima fashion, in real life too.
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Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast (iTunes) - itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/writing-on-gamescast/id1124674245
Podcast (RSS) - writingongamescast.libsyn.com/rss
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Obviously it'd be pretty difficult to capture footage for P.T. now that it's not available for download (even if I wasn't still waiting on getting my PS4), so I had to rely on footage captured by others.
Massive thank you to:
Shirrako - youtube.com/user/Shirrako
TacticVisionz - youtube.com/user/TacticVisionz
HarshlyCritical - youtube.com/user/HarshlyCritical
Gruesome Demise - youtube.com/channel/UCLxHAZQFV362R-_hAsFpbqw
...for capturing the footage that made this video possible.
Also, if you're interested in P.T. theories, check out TheGrateDebate - their videos on the subject are UNBELIEVABLE: youtube.com/user/TheGrateDebate
---
The channel has more than tripled its subscriber count in a matter of weeks! Thank you SO much for watching, subscribing, sharing, pledging to the Patreon, etc. It all helps more than you can possibly know and I can't thank you enough for it. If you want to see your name on the end scroll, or you want early access to episodes/access to soundtracks and scripts, please consider pledging!
Thank you for your continued support!
In this ~*sPoOkI hAlLoWeEn SpEcIaL~* of Writing on Games (suggested by one of my generous patrons, Jonathan, after pledging a certain amount), I take a look at a game that you will struggle to ever play unless you already have it, or a friend does.
P.T. was used to announce Silent Hills - the next instalment in the revered horror franchise directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. Unfortunately, Konami wasn't into it, and so cancelled Silent Hills and un-released P.T. from the PlayStation Store. This left a lot of people feeling like P.T. was the start of a sentence that was never finished - that something remained unsaid.
I would argue that this was maybe in the game's favour, however - P.T. is a game about not knowing, about subverting the reliability of details and narratives other games (even other horror games) have taught us are sacrosanct. There's a reason this short experience is so captivating. I only played it once, but it has stuck with me ever since. In this video, I analyse why that's the case.
In this episode of Writing on Games, I discuss how P.T. perhaps invokes the Imagist tradition of clarity of expression through economy of language, and how it uses this to truly get under your skin - both in the game and, in typical Kojima fashion, in real life too.
---
Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast (iTunes) - itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/writing-on-gamescast/id1124674245
Podcast (RSS) - writingongamescast.libsyn.com/rss
---
Obviously it'd be pretty difficult to capture footage for P.T. now that it's not available for download (even if I wasn't still waiting on getting my PS4), so I had to rely on footage captured by others.
Massive thank you to:
Shirrako - youtube.com/user/Shirrako
TacticVisionz - youtube.com/user/TacticVisionz
HarshlyCritical - youtube.com/user/HarshlyCritical
Gruesome Demise - youtube.com/channel/UCLxHAZQFV362R-_hAsFpbqw
...for capturing the footage that made this video possible.
Also, if you're interested in P.T. theories, check out TheGrateDebate - their videos on the subject are UNBELIEVABLE: youtube.com/user/TheGrateDebate
---
The channel has more than tripled its subscriber count in a matter of weeks! Thank you SO much for watching, subscribing, sharing, pledging to the Patreon, etc. It all helps more than you can possibly know and I can't thank you enough for it. If you want to see your name on the end scroll, or you want early access to episodes/access to soundtracks and scripts, please consider pledging!
Thank you for your continued support!
